Parachute quick-release device



Jan. 5, 1954 c. H. HANNEMANN 2,664,610

PARACHUTE QUICK-RELEASE DEVICE .Filed Sept. 30, 194

FIG. 2.

INVENTOR CARL H. HANNEMANN ATTORNEYS Patented Jan. 5, 1954 UNITED STATES eATENT OFFICE 'NPARACHUTE QUICK-RELEASE DEVICE 'Carl H. Hannemann, Los Angeles, Calif. Application September'tO, 1949, Serial No. 118,909

2 Claims. (01. 24-4201) This invention has to do with devices forconnecting parachute risers to a harness worn by; a parachutist, and has as a principal object the provision of a device which not only positively and securely maintains a parachute riser connected with the straps or harness worn by a parachutist, prior to and while the latter is descending, but also enables the parachutist to quickly and positively release the riser upon landing.

' As is well known, unless a parachutist is able quickly to release the riser under unfavorable conditions upon landing, he is apt to be seriously injured by being dragged over the ground by the stilldistended canopy, or is apt to be drowned by being dragged into water, particularly when there is the presence of strong air currents. Devices for the purpose of effecting such release have been proposed, but have possessed shortcomings either as to the difficulty of effecting instant release under unfavorable conditions, or they have been of such construction that accidental release is apt to occur prematurely.

It is therefore an object of my invention to provide a device which overcomes those shortcomings of prior art devices.

lit-is also an object to provide a device of this character which affords novel and eflicient means for adjustably connecting thereto the straps or harness worn by the parachutist;

Other object and advantages which are more or less subordinate to those above mentioned will appear hereinafter.

Without intending thereby to limit the broader scopeof my invention as defined by the appended claims, I shall'now describe it in one of its preferred embodiments, for which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing my device connecting a riser to the harness worn by a parachutist;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation'of my connector. de-

vice, with its protective guard mounted thereon;

Fig. 3 is a view like Fig. 2, except that the guard is not mounted thereon and a portion is shown in section;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view;

Fig. 5 is an end view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3; 1

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on line 6-6 I ofFig. 3;-

. Fig. 7 is a perspective of the keeper element ofthe device;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the latch element; I Fig. 9 is a side-elevation illustratinga modified form of guard; and

Fig. 10 is a front elevation of the guard shown in Fig. 9.

Referring now to the drawings, I show in Fig. l the body B of the parachutist, wearing the usual straps or parachute harness H. R denotes one of the risers which is attached at one end to the harness and attached at its other end to the canopy, (not shown). My invention relates to the quick release connector device per se generally denoted by the numeral 5, which serves to releaseably connect a riser to the harness.

The device 5 comprises a U-shaped frame having side legs l6, IT, a bottom cross-bar it and a cross-bar substantially midway between the ends of the side legs. Cross-bars l3 and 23 are preferably cast integral with the side legs. A top cross-bar 25 is detachably carried by the frame as will now be explained.

Cross-bar 25 has a left end 25a fitted in a socket 26 in side leg It. It will be observed that the end 25a of the cross-bar is curved at its underside portion as shown at 251), to prevent said end from binding in the socket during its escape therefrom.

The opposite or right end 2? of bar presents a four-sided bevel as shown at 23, so as to taper toward its right end, said end terminating in a rounded surface 21a to facilitate its escape from the keeper 36 now to be described. The keeper 30, the shape of which is best shown in Fig. 7, presents a socket 3| opposed to socket 26, socket 3i being defined by a rounded surface. The keeper presents a downwardly facing shoulder 33 and is pivoted between bifurcations 35 presented by side leg ll. The pivotal mounting of the keeper is effected by a pintie 3? which extends through concentric holes 33 in bifurcations 35 and through a hole 3%? in the keeper. The bottom surface of the keeper curves downwardly and inwardly from the shoulder 33. as best shown at 39, to permit the keeper to swing outwardly about its pivot. V

The keeper is normally retained in position locking the cross-bar 25 (Figs. 2, 3, and 4) by a latch 46 which is pivoted by pintle 4! in a longitudinal outwardly opening slot 42 provided in an outwardly projecting portion la of leg 4?. The latch has a top end cross-portion provich ing lateral projections Mia which overlie the top surfaces of the projection Ila when the latch is in looking position (Figs. 2 and 3) Also, when in looking position, the top end of the latch en,- gages shoulder 33 of the keeper to prevent the keeper from swinging outwardly when the latch is in looking position. The lower end of the latch presents a knurled finger engaging portion 45, yieldably urged outwardly by a plunger 46 mounted in an axial bore 41 in cross-bar it. A compression spring 49 urges the plunger outwardly.

A spring loaded detent 50 is reciprocally mounted in a transverse hole in side leg II, and a compression spring 52 bears between the reduced inner end of the detent and a set screw 53 plugging the bottom end of hole 5|. The purpose of the detent will be later described.

For adjustably lockably securing the device 5 to the harness H, I provide a feature which will now be described.

Each of the side legs IE, IT has a laterally projecting boss 60 and in each of. said legs I pro-. vide an elongated slot 62, extf nd ng, into. said boss, in which slots the respective outer ends of a pivot pin 53 which serve as trunnions, are'slideably mounted. The pin 63 is frictionally engaged in. an axial bore. 3- proyided in aw knurledroller 65 rotatably disposed between cross-bars l8. and, 2!}. Thusthe. inner. endsoi the slots 62 are so positioned that when, the pin 63 engages said inner. ends, the axisoftheroller is substantially in plane with the.,longitudinai axis-.of. the legs.

L6, ll. As will. be, apparent, when the ends of the pivot. pin 63' are moved. along, the slots, into engagementwiththe extremeouter ends of. the slots, as. indicated, by. the, broken. line position 63a in Fig, 5,,the, axis of the roller is, laterally ofiset, from. the plane of the, axes of. the legsso that, the clearancabetween. the periphery of. the roller. and. the-cross barsl isv greater than when said, ends of. the, pivot pin. are inv engagement withthe inner endsof, the slots. Thus, to mount theharnessqn the rollenthe roller is iziovedto said outer position. in, which. said, clearance. is. greatest,whichvnendersiteasy topass the harness around the roller betweenthe,cross-bars. The harness bears, in tension against that surface of. thev lower cross-bar I it which is adjacent the inner endsv of the slots, which, causes that portion of the harness which passes around the roller to .bindbetweenthecross-barsand roller. To adjust the harness, theha ness isrelieved of tension and-thepiyot pin ismoved outwardly along the slots to increase the clearance between the roller and crossebars, and then. the, harness may be longitudinally adiusted withease by rotation of theroller Whilesuch adiustment and mounting are thusrendered' extremely easy, the harness is securely held in I any position of adjustment.

To positively prevent the latch frombeing accidentally or prematurely'actuatedto release the crossbar 25. from the frame I provide channeled guardiil which has parallel sides. ll, 12, a back, wall l3 .and.a bottom end Wall. M, being. open at its top endand' front side A portionof side wall it is cut away at 15,.to provide clearance for the relatively widened portion of the leg ll. A- round hole 56 is provided in side wall ldtoexposethe detent 50. for engagement by. the finger oijthe user. As bestshown invFig. 2, the guard is frictionally engaged over. the leg l'l-with the de-. tent exposed through. and. yieldably. projecting. into hole-IE, and with the end wall 14 additionally concealing the plunger 46. The side walls H, 72 areknurled. to facilitate. gripping. them between the fingers. netentfiikprevents accidental escape ofthe guardJB.

In use, the device, 5, is mounted as the con-..

necting member betweenariser and the harness,

andjtheguard.miis rnounted on side leg I! in.

covering relationship to the keeper and latch. As the parachutist approaches theground, or

immediately aitenhe-lands he removes-the guard;

10 by pressing the detent 50 and pulling outwardly on the guard thus removing it and exposing the latch. When desired, the parachutist then merely presses inwardly on the portion 45 of the latch, which permits the tension on the riser to pull the cross-bar 25 from the socket 3| in the keeper, the keeper being swung about its pivot by the camming action: of the curved beveled end of the cross-bar 25 As soon as the cross-bar is freed from socket 3|, it swings upwardly and its opposite end 2511. is withdrawn from socket26. by the pull exerted by the riser, the'curved' end surface 251) facilitating such escape. The harness is thus completely detached from the riser.

In Figs. 9 and 10' I show a modified form of guard element wherein the parts are as before described except that the rear wall 13a of the guard iscutaway. atits top end portion13b and at the. sides, of the cutaway portion. the rear wall is bentinwardly toprovide bifurcations which extend. inwardly to over-lie the laterally projecting portions 40a ofthe latch; wherebymorepositively to hold the latch and keeper against accidental. orpremature movement;

I claim:

1. In a device for releasablyretaining. a para.- chute riser connected to a harness, the combination of. a rigid U-shapedframe having. a: bottom cross portion, a first side portion= and anopposits second side portion, a. harness engaging cross member mounted at-itsends in saidside: portions; the first ofsaidside portions havinga socket opening towards the second side por-- tion, a riserengagingcross member having its: inner end releasably fitting in said socket, akeeper pivotallysecured at one of its ends to the second side portion. said keeperhaving ahookedportion releasably. engaging theouter endof said riser en a ng crossrnem er. keeper member disposed=besideandhaving its lower end portion spaced from the lower portion of the second sideportion, said. locking member hav-- ing its upper end lockably: engaging said-keeper andbeing pivotedbetweenits ends to the-second side member" whereby to: disengage from said keeper when'the lower end portion of said locking member is movedtowardssaid second: sidememher aplunger carried bysaid bottom: crossportion of the frame and having its outerendena gaging said handle portion, springm'eansurging said plunger againstthelowen end portionof said locking member whereby to yieldably-retain' the: hooked portion ofthe keeperin' engagement with the outer-;endofsaidriser engagingcross mem her; andaguard: member: frictionally engaging: said second side portion in: covering relationship to said keeper and locking member.

2. A device of claim 1 wherein said harness. engaging crossmember is mounted to rotate relative; to said; frame.

CARL Ha HANNEMANN;

References Cited in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num "Name Date ,0 4 McCord- Feb. 21; 1905' 1.463.149 Barthelemy July 31,1923- 2,153,077 Clarke V Apr. 4, 1939 2,393,0 2 Skinner Jan. 15,1946. 2,405.333, Sheridan. ,c Aug. 6, 1946" 2469.57 Quilter May 10, 1949. 2,574,295 Smith--- NOV- 6; 1 

